Chapter 33: Record of Moving to the City in the 90s 33

After the Lantern Festival at the Su family home, Yu Zexiu drove back to the capital.

Su Huandan didn’t go back with him. She was still a student, and school hadn’t started yet.

During break, Su Huandan preferred staying home with her parents.

Well, it couldn’t be helped. These were all regrets from her past life.

After driving back, Yu Zexiu headed to the Siheyuan in Houhai. His biological grandmother lived there, so if he wasn’t staying here with her, was he supposed to keep that step-grandmother company instead?

Besides, whether he lived at the Military Compound now didn’t really matter. His parents’ company was running very steadily these days, so they no longer needed to keep traveling back and forth. It was enough for his parents to stay over there. There was no need for him to stick around.

Thinking about it, the whole thing was pretty ridiculous.

If the three of them didn’t keep watch over the place at the Military Compound, those two aunts born to his step-grandmother would shamelessly move right in.

That was something his mother absolutely could not tolerate.

Because those two aunts had once stolen his mother’s dowry jewelry. In the end, they had to call the police, and only after sending both women straight to the detention center did they get the jewelry back.

Even so, after getting out of detention, they still shamelessly came to the door as usual, and even dared to ask his mother to buy them jewelry.

That was deliberately disgusting behavior.

How should he put it?

They were exactly like his step-grandmother, cut from the same cloth, equally shameless and thick-skinned!

After parking the car and entering the house, he found his parents there too.

They had probably calculated when he’d be back and come over on purpose.

“How did it go? What did they say over there?” Ms. Meng had known Su Huandan for more than three years now, and she truly liked her as a daughter-in-law, not just because she loved her son and extended that affection to her.

She didn’t care much about her daughter-in-law’s background. What mattered was whether the person was good. Besides, she and her husband had no need to make their son marry for alliances. As long as their son lived comfortably and happily, that was all that mattered.

Not to mention that among girls her age, Su Huandan was one of the more outstanding ones.

She was capable and driven, and now she was already pursuing a doctorate. There was a high chance she’d be able to stay on at the university in the future.

Still, her family didn’t really care whether Su Huandan stayed at the university or not. It sounded impressive, but the salary truly couldn’t compare to what private business owners earned.

What Ms. Meng actually wanted was for Su Huandan, after graduating, to start a business together with her son.

If they worked hard and strove together, life would be even more fulfilling.

Only after drinking a cup of tea did Yu Zexiu reply at an unhurried pace, “Mom and Dad can go over there to set a date whenever you have time. Everything’s been discussed. Their only request is that after this, I protect Huandan more in our family. They’re worried that since she comes from a small household, she might be wronged.”

Ms. Zhou quickly said, “She doesn’t need to be overly cautious on my side. I really like that child Huandan. And there’s no need to worry about your parents either. As for the Military Compound? Your grandfather has gotten smarter these days. Whether he’s happy or upset, you can’t tell from that funeral face of his anyway. As for that woman and the two children she had? Tell Huandan she can curse them out directly. I’ll back her up.”

Then his parents also said that there was no need to give any face to the step-grandmother and her two daughters. If they dared stir up trouble, Su Huandan could fire right back. And if that still wasn’t enough, she could go to Ms. Zhou or Ms. Meng.

There were people in the family who could deal with that mother and her two daughters, so there was nothing to fear from them.

“Grandma, what about Eldest Aunt-in-law and my two younger aunts-in-law? You know what they’re planning too. Huandan really has ruined their plans,” Yu Zexiu said. He had never found the step-grandmother and her two daughters difficult to deal with.

After he moved back to the Military Compound, whenever he lost his temper at the three of them, his grandfather would even laugh, never bothering to stop him at all.

What was truly troublesome were the wives of his biological grandmother’s other three sons.

Ms. Zhou had no feelings for those three daughters-in-law. In fact, even toward the sons who had chosen to stay by her ex-husband’s side instead of leaving with her, her feelings were extremely faint.

It had been nearly thirty years since the divorce. What her ex-husband had done had only disgusted her, not hurt her. But the choices those three sons made had truly wounded her.

Back then, she had once been unable to understand it. Was their future really more important than their own mother?

Later, she understood. All three of them had taken after their father in temperament. When it came to selfishness and self-interest, they were exactly like him.

For all these years after the divorce, she had lived in Shanghai. In the first few years, those three sons only called. They visited her just once every three years, bringing only a bit of fruit, and never gave her a single cent for her support.

After the second son, Zhou Jing, became successful, those three sons started coming to see her much more often, making several trips a year. But every time they came, they would imply in one way or another that since the second son had made it big and had money, he couldn’t just ignore his brothers.

Ms. Zhou knew exactly why they said that. They wanted a share of the second son’s money.

But why should they get any?

The second son became successful because he was capable. He built up that family business with the support of his wife’s family. It had nothing at all to do with the Yu family. The three of them had never rendered any great service to him either, so why should his money be split with them?

Ever since she realized that those three sons were suddenly making such frequent trips to see her because they had their eyes on the second son’s money, Ms. Zhou’s heart had gone completely cold.

And she had never once asked the second son for anything on behalf of the other three.

She had even told the second son outright what the other three were planning.

Over the years, the relationship between the second son and his three brothers had in fact only grown more distant.

Who wouldn’t get fed up when every meeting turned into them crying poverty, while their wives shamelessly said things like, “As their uncle and second uncle, surely you can at least give some money for your nephew’s wedding, right?”

Whenever Ms. Zhou thought of all these upsetting matters, she felt miserable.

She had given birth to four children in total, yet three of her sons had taken after her ex-husband’s character. Ms. Zhou felt that all the bitterness and hardship in her life had come from this very disappointment.

And now her grandson, whom she had raised with her own hands, was asking what would happen if those three daughters-in-law made things difficult for Su Huandan.

Ms. Zhou’s heart had always been on Yu Zexiu and his parents’ side, before, now, and in the future. She even found this future granddaughter-in-law, Su Huandan, far more pleasing to the eye than the three useless sons she had borne herself.

“Don’t indulge their bad habits. In front of others, be a little respectful, just so no one says behind Huandan’s back that she has no manners. But in private? Whoever acts shamelessly gets cursed out. No need to be polite. If they dare make a scene, I’ll ask them whether the fact that they never once went to Shanghai to visit me, their mother-in-law, in over twenty years was something their natal families taught them.” The moment Ms. Zhou said that, Yu Zexiu was completely relieved.

After that, once the wedding date was set, the marriage preparations sped straight onto the fast track.

Old Master Yu had still been waiting for Yu Zexiu to bring his girlfriend over so he could meet her.

Instead, he was informed that the wedding would be held at a hotel on the first day of May!

Old Master Yu was completely dumbfounded. I haven’t even met her, and they’re already getting married?

Zhou Jing paid no attention to his father’s expression. “They’ve been together for years, so it’s about time they got married. We’ve already settled everything. If you have time that day, then come attend. If you’re busy, it’s fine if you don’t. The in-laws are especially understanding. They know you hold an important post and might not be able to make it, and they won’t be upset.”

Those words made Old Master Yu slam down his teacup and storm back to his study.

Step-grandmother sat in the living room like a quail, head lowered as she stared at her little leather shoes. Ruthless, absolutely ruthless. The second son and his wife were truly ruthless. They actually weren’t even inviting the old master to Yu Zexiu’s wedding?

If even his own grandfather wasn’t being allowed to attend, then she and her three daughters had better not go trying to join the fun either.

What a pity. She had wanted to drape herself in gold and silver and show off the bearing of a general’s wife in front of Ms. Zhou. But now there was no showing off at all, was there?